Newsletter article
The greenest building is the one still standing after a disaster
The Conversation
01 Sep 2026
Featured in Collection : Drexel's Newest Publications
Abstract
When Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle in 2018, a beach house called the Sand Palace was left standing, while more than half the buildings around it were destroyed.
Its owners had built it to withstand roughly double the wind speed that Florida’s code required, with reinforced concrete walls on 40-foot (12-meter) pilings. The cost was about 15% to 20% more than standard construction, but the owners wanted a house that could survive storms.
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Details
- Title
- The greenest building is the one still standing after a disaster
- Creators
- Fernanda Cruz Rios - Drexel University, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Publication Details
- The Conversation
- Resource Type
- Newsletter article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Other Identifier
- 991022203158204721